In PI’s event calendar, SPS/IPC/DRIVES fair always marks a big highlight of the year. The fair’s importance is easily recognizable by its continuous growth. Although slightly fewer visitors than in the previous record year, there were more exhibitors present and an additional hall was used for this year’s fair.
In the same way, PI was able to attract more and more companies to co-exhibit at our booth in recent years, which led to a very packed booth. This year, our open, inviting booth allowed us to present our PI technologies and new devices from a variety of vendors who support them. The highlight of this year’s presentation was our new paper airplane model. Using a modular machine concept, we could emphasize many of the benefits PROFINET offers for machine builders in a fun way.
Other important topics included our presentation for process automation, which showed how PROFINET and PROFIBUS nicely complement each other. It also showed the role FDI will play for device integration. Our PROFINET multi-vendor wall had many new devices. It featured a drive exhibit, underlining the ease of use of PROFIdrive in drives and motion applications in two ways: using the technology in applications and implementing it in products. Today, there are lots of drives available supporting the PROFIdrive profile.
The successful fair was completed by a well-attended press conference focusing not only on PROFINET for machine builders, but also showcasing our recent successes in China. This success is built on three main areas: Standardization, Members, and Customers. PROFINET and PROFIdrive reached the highest level of standardization in China: GB/T. The continuous strong support of our members made the regional association in China the third largest in the world after Germany and North America. And finally, we could present case studies from ABB, E+H, GE Intelligent Platforms, and Siemens demonstrating that PROFIBUS and PROFINET are widely used in China in all kinds of industries.
SPS/IPC/DRIVES fair is not only a highlight of our event calendar. The opening of the Christkindles Market in Nuremberg right after the fair closed, reminds us of the upcoming holiday season. For us it is an opportunity to relax after a very successful 2014 and look forward to exciting activities next year. I wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and look forward to see you in 2015!
–Karsten Schneider, PI Chairman